Kirk Snyder didn't wear a Timberwolves' uniform the first three times his new team played San Antonio this season and he didn't witness Spurs guard Manu Ginobili do everything but shovel off the Target Center sidewalk in his two games there.
But he knew two things after Ginobili again torched the Wolves, this time by scoring 16 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter of a 15-point loss at San Antonio on Friday night. No. 1: A fellow -- even if he is the favorite to win the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year award -- shouldn't shoot 70.9 percent from three-point distance in a four-game season series. That's what Ginobili did against the Wolves this season after he made five of eight three-point attempts on Friday and saw his season percentage against the Wolves go down.
"That's an alarming stat," Snyder said. "You'd think you couldn't shoot 70 percent alone by yourself in the gym."
No. 2: And that same fellow shouldn't be allowed such an efficient scoring night.
"A guy shouldn't score 26 points in 25 minutes and still be walking," Snyder said. "That shouldn't happen."
The Wolves also, according to Snyder, shouldn't have left Texas late Friday following consecutive losses to the Rockets and Spurs and felt good that they at least competed hard against two Western Conference contenders this late in the season.
"I'm not a believer in taking good things from losing," he said. "This is the NBA. Our job is to win. It's a tough business. That's what we play for. We don't play for moral victories and we're not a college team playing just to say we got better. At the end of the night, there's a winner and a loser. We didn't win tonight, so it was a bad road trip."
SPURS 99, TIMBERWOLVES 84: Trailing by 20 points early in the third quarter with little left to play for this season other than their peace of mind and future contracts, the Timberwolves reversed course with a 21-4 run that got them back in the game but ultimately couldn't overcome Manu Ginobili's 16 fourth-quarter points and the Spurs' 50th victory, their ninth consecutive 50-win season.
Trailing 59-39 early in the third quarter, the Wolves changed up their defenses, finally started making some shots and drew within four points late in the quarter. That turnaround left Wolves coach Randy Wittman wondering what might have been if an apparent Randy Foye basket and possible three-point play hadn't been wiped away by a suspect charging call just before the quarter expired.
"I was proud we persevered," said Wittman, who lamented the fact his team shot just eight free throws.
The Wolves still left AT&T Center and the state of Texas after a two-game trip with everything for which a fervent Wolves' fan could hope at this time of such a season: Competitive performances and losses to the Rockets and Spurs that do no further damage to the team's NBA draft lottery probabilities.
